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Case Matter Divisions

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland is headed by the United States Attorney, Rod J. Rosenstein, and First Assistant United States Attorney, Stephen Schenning. They head an office of 82 Assistant United States Attorneys and 80 support personnel that includes the Civil, Criminal and Administrative Divisions.

The Civil Division, based in Baltimore, defends agencies of the United States when sued in court, prosecutes affirmative civil enforcement activities in a variety of fraud matters and collects debts owed to the United States. Approximately 12 Civil Division Assistant U.S. Attorneys represent the interests of the United States in litigation involving the United States in federal and state courts in Maryland. Civil litigation encompasses many subject matters, including administrative, bankruptcy, civil rights, commercial, constitutional, employment, environmental, fraud, immigration, tax and tort matters.

For the fiscal year 2012 ending on September 30, the District of Maryland collected $13,835,316 in civil actions:

The Criminal Division includes 40 prosecutors in the Northern Division in Baltimore and 16 prosecutors in the Southern Division in Greenbelt. In the fiscal year 2012, the District of Maryland collected $10,889,306 in criminal debts owed to the U.S. government and to federal crime victims, including restitution, criminal fines and felony assessments.

The Criminal Division in Baltimore is divided into five sections:

Violent Crimes Section

The Violent Crime Section investigates and prosecutes violations of the federal firearms laws and other types of violent crime, including carjackings, commercial robberies and murder.

The Violent Crime Section focuses on dismantling gangs and other violent drug-trafficking organizations, by making use of the federal racketeering and conspiracy statutes. The Violent Crime Section is also primarily responsible for pursuing our federal anti-gang strategy and for working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to implement the Maryland EXILE strategy {link to Maryland Exile page}.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hanlon supervises the Violent Crimes Section with assistance from his deputy, James Wallner. They can be reached by calling 410-209-4800.

Narcotics Section

The central mission of the Narcotics Section is to investigate and prosecute major organizations, including international and interstate narcotics traffickers, methamphetamine and ecstacy labs, and urban street gangs responsible for violent crimes. Most of the international and interstate investigations are Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force cases involving multiple law enforcement agencies, especially the DEA, ATF, FBI, ICE and the IRS. These investigations often are related to cases in other jurisdictions, so that coordination between prosecutors and agencies is important.

The Narcotics Section makes frequent use of Title III wiretaps and undercover agents to penetrate organizations and gather evidence. It also uses extradition powers to prosecute foreign smugglers who conspire to ship illegal drugs into the United States.

Physicians and pharmacies that violate criminal laws regulating prescription drugs also are investigated and prosecuted by the Narcotics Section, along with individuals who illegally sell prescription drugs, such as OxyContin and Percocet.

The Narcotics Section also targets major money laundering operations, especially ones that transmit drug proceeds overseas. Through attention to asset forfeiture the Section strives to ensure that traffickers and their families never benefit financially from their crimes.

Police corruption is uncommon but typically fueled by the proceeds of narcotics trafficking, and the Narcotics Section believes that federal investigation is especially appropriate in those rare cases where local officials have been corrupted by drug trafficking.

The Section also focuses on street gangs that traffic in narcotics and commit violent crimes. In these cases, the Section works closely with local police departments and the Maryland State Police, as well as federal agencies.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Harding supervises the Narcotics Section and can be reached by calling 410-209-4800.

Fraud and Public Corruption Section

The Fraud and Public Corruption Section prosecutes two broad categories of cases.

Fraud victimizes consumers, businesses, financial institutions and public agencies through a broad array of sophisticated scams to cheat victims of money or property. Fraud schemes are a significant drain on our economy and can be personally devastating to individuals who lose money or property. This Office prosecutes telemarketing fraud, corporate fraud, mortgage fraud, fraud on financial institutions, government contracting fraud, tax fraud, insurance fraud such as staged automobile accident fraud and arson for profit, bankruptcy fraud, investment fraud schemes involving securities and commodities, and internet fraud.

Public corruption violates the trust between the public and government employees or elected officials whose responsibility is to serve the public trust, and not their private interests. This Office vigorously prosecutes federal, state and local officials who act corruptly in the performance of their duties or the conduct of their offices.

Many of the fraud and public corruption cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office are investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Inspector Generals of many government agencies.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Gavin supervises the Fraud and Public Corruption Section and can be reached by calling 410-209-4800.

Major Crimes Section

Federal criminal violations prosecuted by the Major Crimes Section include some of the top prosecution priorities of the Department of Justice, such as sexual exploitation of children, identity fraud and immigration violations. The Section also handles prosecutions involving the civil rights statutes, environmental crimes, domestic violence and stalking. Complex issues that implicate national security are also within the jurisdiction of the Section, such as technology transfer, export violations, arson and explosives, as well as computer security and hacking issues.

Additional crimes handled by the Major Crimes Section include:

Health Care Fraud

Bank thefts and bank robberies

Kidnapping Human trafficking

Trafficking in contraband cigarettes

Fish & Wildlife

Counterfeiting

Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property and other non-fraud property offenses

Threats and assaults (mail, wire, against public officials)

Unauthorized Flight After Prosecution (Fugitives) and Escape

Copyright and trademark violations

Loan sharking and gambling

Other Regulatory offenses not involving false statements

Postal thefts, robberies and obstruction of the mail

The collective experience of Major Crimes Section prosecutors is varied, as required by the complexities of different investigations that are within the responsibility of the section. Indeed, most federal investigative agencies will rely upon the Major Crimes Section as they investigate and present for prosecution the many different crimes included in the federal criminal code.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Wilkinson supervises the Major Crimes Section and can be reached by calling 410-209-4800.

National Security Section

The National Security Section is staffed with Assistant United States Attorneys who work with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to ensure that all matters that may bear upon the national security interests of the United States are thoroughly investigated. Most such matters fall under the investigative jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI coordinates the Joint Terrorism Task Force, made up of approximately 50 federal, state and local investigators. The FBI also conducts all counterespionage and foreign counterintelligence investigations for the United States government, and is one of the primary agencies involved in conducting counterproliferation and cyberterrorism investigations along with partner federal agencies, such as Homeland Security Investigations, Commerce Department, Department of Defense. It is the Assistant United States Attorneys’ responsibility to provide legal guidance and advice leading to the successful conclusion of these investigations and the prosecution of alleged violators.

Additionally, it is the responsibility of the Chief of the National Security Section to ensure that initiatives important to the protection of vital aspects of our state’s infrastructure are conducted. Thus, from time to time, the United States Attorney’s Office will request assistance from relevant agencies and coordinate their activities to investigate, for instance, whether those persons that have received access to sensitive/secure areas of BWI Thurgood Marshall International Airport, the Port of Baltimore, or other similar locations have provided truthful information to security officials, such as their criminal history, social security number, immigration status, or any other information relevant to receiving special access. These protective initiatives are an integral component of the United States Attorney’s Office’s anti-terrorism program and complement the office’s overall national security strategy.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey Eisenberg supervises the National Security Section and can be reached by calling 410-209-4800.

Asset Forfeiture & Money Laundering

The Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section supports the Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Criminal Division who are prosecuting money laundering cases, and/or are seeking the forfeiture of criminal proceeds and other property as part of the sentence in a criminal case. Money laundering and asset forfeiture are complex areas of the law that require special expertise. The attorneys and paralegals in the Section also handle their own case load of civil forfeiture cases. Civil forfeiture may be pursued when property is subject to forfeiture apart from a federal criminal case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stefan Casella supervises the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and can be reached by calling 410-209-4800.

The Southern Division Office, located across the street from the U.S. Courthouse in Greenbelt, prosecutes federal crimes occurring in Prince George’s, Montgomery, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties, involving the same categories of cases that are prosecuted in Baltimore by the Violent Crimes, Narcotics, Fraud and Public Corruption and Major Crimes sections.

Violent crime prosecution priorities in Greenbelt include using federal racketeering, conspiracy and firearms statutes to disrupt violent gangs and reduce gang activity. The scope of these gang prosecutions ranges from local to national and international. In Prince George’s County, the Greenbelt office works with federal agencies, local prosecutors, and state and local police to implement Maryland EXILE. The office also prosecutes violent crime offenses, including homicides, arising on exclusive federal enclaves.

Southern Division narcotics cases frequently involve multiple federal and local law enforcement agencies and task forces. Using undercover agents, confidential informants, consensual and Title III wiretaps, multiple-location searches and a host of other law enforcement techniques, narcotics investigations in Greenbelt have resulted in the successful prosecutions of high-level cocaine traffickers from Columbia and Guatemala, heroin traffickers from Nigeria and Pakistan, marijuana traffickers from Jamaica, and individuals throughout the United States who participated in conspiracies involving these drugs, ecstacy, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances, or facilitated conspiracies by laundering drug proceeds. In narcotics and violent crime investigations and prosecutions, the Southern Division coordinates with the United States Attorney’s Offices for the District of Columbia and the Eastern District of Virginia in cases where criminal conduct crosses jurisdictional lines.

Greenbelt prosecutors also investigate and prosecute significant public corruption and fraud cases. Public corruption cases involve state and local government officials and employees of the many federal agencies located in the Southern Division. Fraud cases range from complex corporate fraud cases involving corporations on the I-270 technology corridor to investment and mortgage fraud schemes that target immigrants, the elderly and other vulnerable victims.

Like the Major Crimes Section in Baltimore, the Greenbelt office prosecutes a wide array of other federal offenses, including child pornography, bank robberies, immigration violations, and counterfeiting.

The Southern Division office also handles thousands of misdemeanor cases that occur on areas of exclusive federal jurisdiction such as the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, the National Institutes of Health, and military bases.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart Berman supervises the Southern Division with assistance from his deputy, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Crowell. They can be reached by calling (301) 344-4433.